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A majority of states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards have not adjusted their graduation requirements to align with the core's math standards, according to a report by Change the Equation and the National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education. The report also shows that among the states that have approved new graduation requirements, many still need to take more steps to align their math sequences and content with the new standards.

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The future of the Common Core State Standards is uncertain in Tennessee as some lawmakers push for a rollout delay. Still, many schools have been transitioning to the Common Core during the past three years. One district is using what it calls "power standards" that blend the old standards with Common Core.

Expanded-learning programs, including summer and after-school programs, may provide lessons in implementation of the Common Core State Standards, some educators in California said. Some said lessons they teach during summer programs, which often involve more student-driven learning, align with the common core's emphasis on collaboration and critical thinking. Such educators have been adapting their summer lessons for the regular school year as part of their schools' adoption of the standards.

Math teachers, students and principals in Winnetka Public Schools District 36 in Illinois will begin the school year with a new math curriculum aligned with the Common Core State Standards. A math committee worked for two years on the curriculum, said Alison Hawley, the district's director of curriculum and instruction. Many of the common core's practices already were being used in the classroom, she said, but there were adjustments, such as teaching some math concepts earlier and adoption of new textbooks.

End-of-year subject tests in North Carolina schools are now aligned with the Common Core State Standards, which were implemented in the fall. Lara Tyndall, a teacher at Winter Park Elementary School in Wilmington, N.C., said she is optimistic about the results, but acknowledges that even if scores drop this year, the common core's focus on in-depth learning will better serve students later in life.

A student-centered classroom culture will address and be supported by many goals of the Common Core State Standards, middle-grades educator Marsha Ratzel writes in this blog post. For instance, lessons that guide students to identify real-life problems and find solutions, are aligned with the common core's math standard of finding the meaning in a problem. "As teachers gain experience in the CCSS standards that apply to their grade level, they will identify places where there are opportunities to put student questions at the forefront of their lesson plans," Ratzel writes.